2005 - 09-01-05

I considered myself very fortunate as I was able
to board the plane. Once on it, I strapped myself in and we
rolled out onto the runway. And there we sat. And sat. And sat.
Our plane remained on the tarmac for two hours. Was it because
Hurricane Katrina's winds were holding us back? No. We sat on
that tarmac for two hours... because...

We Had A Malfunctioning

Toilet In The Back Of The Plane!

All the while, I kept thinking, "Come
on, let's get this baby in the air. If we don't leave fairly
soon, they're going to shut down the airport and I won't be
able to make the trip. We can do without a toilet for a couple
hours."

Finally, the restroom problem was fixed by a maintenance
crew and we got off the ground and headed toward Baltimore.

The flight was nice. I met an interesting woman
from Columbia who was starting a business of importing mahogany
caskets. She and I laughed and joked and discussed marketing
while waiting on the tarmac and during the entire flight.

When I arrived in Baltimore, the people were courteous,
the city was clean and charming, the hotel was first class.
The people I met, especially those from Agora, could not have
been more accommodating and friendly.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (meaning Miami),
the "nothing to worry about" hurricane did come ashore.
It came in about 25 miles north of where I live in Miami. And
then, the hurricane lived up to the name given it by the mayor
of New Orleans (he called it the "x-factor hurricane").
Hurricane Katrina made almost a 90 degree left turn and
headed dead south for Miami. The weather stations clocked gusts
of winds of 95 miles per hour about 2 miles south of where I
live. Then Katrina made a right turn and headed in a westerly
direction into the Gulf of Mexico.